Feverish media speculation had raged ahead of Robert Mueller’s
sentencing recommendations for former National Security Adviser
Michael Flynn, fueled by hopes the court filing would provide fresh
insight into the special counsel’s probe of Russian interference in
the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

What emerged instead from the
heavily redacted document was a deepening mystery and a few hints
that the nearly 18-month-old probe is headed in unknown and
previously unexpected directions.

In the sentencing memo filed
in federal court late Tuesday, Mueller’s prosecutors recommended
that Flynn, an early cooperating witness in the sweeping Russia
probe, receive no prison time for lying to the FBI because he has
provided “substantial assistance” to several ongoing investigations
since pleading guilty last December.

Flynn sat for 19 interviews
with lawyers from the special counsel’s office, as well as the
Justice Department, providing “firsthand information” on
interactions between President Donald Trump’s transition team and
Russian government officials in December 2016, prosecutors wrote.

They also praised the
“timeliness” of Flynn’s cooperation, saying it had persuaded other
witnesses to cooperate.

But prosecutors disclosed
little else, blacking out large portions of the memo due to
“sensitive information about ongoing investigations.”

"While this addendum seeks to
provide a comprehensive description of the benefit the government
has thus far obtained from the defendant's substantial assistance,
some of that benefit may not be fully realized at this time because
the investigation in which he has provided assistance is ongoing,"
the memo said.

That left analysts reading tea
leaves (trying to predict the future) as they sought to unravel a
riddle shrouded in mystery: two separate investigations unrelated to
the Russia probe with which Flynn has cooperated.

Flynn, a former Army general and head of the Defense Intelligence
Agency, served as Trump's national security adviser for less than a
month. He was forced to resign after news surfaced that he had lied
to administration officials about his talks with Sergey Kislyak,
former Russian ambassador to Washington, during the presidential
transition.

Flynn had drawn investigators'
scrutiny before he ran afoul of the FBI in January 2017. While
serving as an adviser to the Trump campaign in 2016, he lobbied for
a Dutch company linked to the Turkish government without registering
as a foreign agent.

Flynn began cooperating with the special counsel after pleading
guilty to lying to federal agents about his conversations with
Kislyak. He became the first of five former Trump associates who
have entered guilty pleas with the special counsel's office.

The sentencing recommendation by Mueller, if approved by a federal
judge later this month, could spell an end to Flynn’s legal
troubles. Sentencing is set for Dec. 18.

But as part of his agreement
with the special counsel, Flynn is required to testify “at any and
all trials” where his testimony is deemed relevant.

Von Spakovsky said that while
the Mueller investigation remains cloaked in secrecy, it is unlikely
to wrap up by year’s end and could well drag on as late as next
spring. He said he expects the special counsel to write a report on
his findings at some point next year without issuing any major
indictments.

Trump
recently provided the special counsel with written answers about his
knowledge of the Russian interference, raising speculation that
Mueller's team may have received what they need to complete their
report.
But recent developments in the probe paint a different picture.

Last week,former Trump lawyer
Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump
Tower project in Moscow, and prosecutors revealed that Cohen had
spent 70 hours in interviews with investigators.

On Friday, Mueller’s
prosecutors are expected to disclose how former Trump campaign
chairman Paul Manafort “repeatedly lied” to them in recent weeks in
breach of a cooperation agreement.

“So all of that tells me that
this is very complicated, that there is more to come,” said Chris
Edelson, an assistant professor of government at American University
School of Public Affairs. "I would not expect Mueller’s
investigation or the other investigations that are referred to in
the Flynn sentencing memo to end anytime soon. Hopefully, we’ll get
more information, but I don’t see things wrapping up."